First off, I'm angry. I'm angry for two reasons. 1) The Canucks really didn't put out 60 minutes of playoff style effort at Staples Center last night. 2) The refs seemed content to completely hand the Kings every opportunity they could with a barrage of anti-Canuck calls. So, now that my Vannies have gone the way of the Buffalo and dropped behind 1-2 in their Quarterfinal Series after last night's 3-5 loss, am I more frustrated by the poor play or the poor calls?
Poor play:
Roberto Luongo gets pulled in the second period. Look, I'm an ardent Luon-gold supporter, and I'll be the first to point out that Bobby had some bad breaks and poor play in front of him. Of the 4 goals he allowed on 16 shots, 3 came on a Kings' advantage and 1 came on a ridiculous turnover right in front of the net by Kyle Wellwood. That being said, I think every 7th Canuck around both nations has been hoping that our Captain could rise above all those issues and put up a stand-on-his-head type of performance. It's not a very exciting thing, as a hockey fan, to see your franchise goalie getting yanked in the middle frame of a hugely important game 3 in the playoffs. For sure the Vannies need to take less dumb penalties, and for sure they need to play a little more fundamentally sound with possession in front of their own net, but El Roberto also needs to become this transcendent force that prevails in spite of everything being against him. I know he can be that kind of guy.
Speaking of players who I support more than anyone else, Kyle Wellwood may a nearly unforgiveable mistake that led to Luongo getting the hook. As mentioned, Welly grabbed the puck in front of his own net, got pressured, and flung an ill advised backhand pass in front of the net, that was promptly stolen and buried through Lu's 5 hole. Roberto wasn't even close to being ready for the shot, not really expecting the chain of events to go that way, and Dub Dub's mistake seemed to hand it all the way to the Kings.
Alex Burrows has fallen silent. Despite almost getting awarded the non goal off Daniel's skate, my main man AB has fallen silent at the worst possible time. And, you know, maybe it was Burrows making the Sedins better and not always the other way around.
I should stop here, and give love to Mikael Samuelsson, who scored again last night. It's his 4th of the series, quickly solidifying his cult hero status among Orca Nation.
Poor calls:
The idiot in the war room in Toronto that overturned the goal off Daniel's skate (that would have pulled the 'Nucks within one early in the 3rd) should be drawn and quarered. Even the Kings' announcer said he thought it was a goal. Did anyone see a distinct kicking motion from Daniel, or did everyone else see what I saw? Burrows centered the puck, Sedin was hockey stopping into the crease to slow down, and the puck deflected off his skate. No intent to kick, no intent to redirect, just a lucky bounce. Well, I guess it wasn't a lucky bounce. That goal getting taken away stalled the Canucks momentum and ruined the magic. I'm still so angry about that call.
How about holding the stick? With the Vaninies down by a goal in the third, a Kings forward went down to the ice in front of Raycroft and held onto Steve Bernier's stick, keeping him from making a play on the puck. The ref's arm went up in the air, and the Kings announcers stated that there was a delayed penalty. As the play went on, the ref put his arm down, nothing was ever called, and the rest is history. Is it just me, or are we seeing some kind on conspiracy going on here? Fuck.
Henrik for holding leads to the third Kings goal. H-Bomb, rarely in the box, gets called for a holding penalty when both of his hands were on his stick and a Kings player wrapped around him. Hank's body got tangled with him, and he had the puck, but there was never a hand placed on the Kings player. Holding was called, and the Kings promptly went 3 for 3 on the power play.
Rayzor gets messed with. True, there was a goalie interference call eventually, but that was the second time that Raycroft got taken out in the third period. I'm talking, getting hit to where he's spun around and falls to the ice. On the first contact play, the arms of the refs mysteriously stayed at their sides while Canucks fans everywhere were screaming at their TV sets. I know the home team gets the calls, but this was madness out there last night.
Bitch, bitch, bitch. I guess that's all I'm good for on the day after a loss like that. The fact is that the 'Nucks now trail in their series 1-2 with one game left to play in LA before getting back to beautiful British Columbia. We're still in line for my 'Nucks in 6 call, but we need to steal one on the road tomorrow night. Wednesday at 7 pm is big time.
Don't let me down boys.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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